US inflation jumps ahead of Federal Reserve interest rate decision

Chris Papadopoullos was City A.M.'s economics reporter until February 2016.

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Chris Papadopoullos

The effect of cheap energy prices is starting to fall out of the annual price comparison (Source: Getty)

US inflation rose to a 2015-high in September as the impact of low energy prices began to fade.

Annual inflation, as measured by the year-on-year change in the consumer price index, jumped to 0.5 per cent in November from October’s 0.2 per cent.

The figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the impact of oil price declines beginning to have less of an downward impact on the figures. Energy prices were down 14.4 per cent on the year in November. In October they were down 17.7 per cent.

Core inflation, which strips out oil and food prices and gives an indication of where inflation is likely to go in future, climbed to two per cent from October’s 1.9 per cent.

The strengthening in price pressures comes just a day before the US Federal Reserve, which targets two per cent inflation, announces its interest rate decision. It is widely expected to hike rates.

The Federal Reserve’s favourite measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, was 0.2 per cent in October while core PCE was also lower than the core CPI at 1.3 per cent.